Towards Low Carbon Cities in China Urban Form and Greenhouse Gas Emissions

This book explores the relationship between urban form and greenhouse gas emissions in China, providing new insights for policy, urban planning and management. Drawing on the results of a four-year multidisciplinary research project, the book examines how factors such as urban households’ access to services and jobs, land use mixes and provision of public transport impact on greenhouse gas emissions. The authors analyse data from a wide range of sources including 4677 sample households from four major Chinese cities – Beijing, Shanghai, Wuhan and Xi’an – with diverse locations, urban spatial structures and population sizes. The book explores residents’ attitudes to reducing GHG emissions and advances knowledge relating to three environmental scales – cross-metropolitan, intra-city and neighbourhood level. It also contributes to debates on low carbon policy by revealing the relevance of urban planning parameters at both the macro and micro levels. The book will be of interest to scholars in the areas of urban planning, urban management, environmental sustainability and resource utilisation, as well as urban policy makers and planners who are working toward developing low carbon, sustainable cities of the future.

1. Framing China’s Low Carbon City Ambitions in a Global Context 2. Low carbon Policies and Programs in China 3. The ‘Campaign’ for Low Carbon Cities in China 4. Does Urban Form ‘Shape’ Carbon Emission? 5. Beijing, a "Multi-Ringed" City 6. Wuhan, a Polycentric City 7. Xi’an, a Mono-centric City 8. Shanghai 9. Residents’ Opinions on Creating more Sustainable Cities 10. Suggestions for decarbonizing Chinese Cities

Sun Sheng Han is Professor in Urban Planninginthe Faculty of Architecture, Building and Planning at the University of Melbourne, Australia. Ray Green is Professor in Landscape Architecture in theFaculty of Architecture, Building and Planning at theUniversity of Melbourne, Australia. Mark Y. Wang is Professor in Geography in the Melbourne School of Land and Environment at theUniversity of Melbourne, Australia.